Rebel Of The Sands Review.

 

HELLO MUNCHKINS!!

So I bought this book yesterday, and I’ve already finished it. I’d previously borrowed this book from the library ages ago but had to return it before I could get beyond chapter six. So when I saw this book, and the sequel (Traitor to the Throne — SIGNED TOO) I just had to buy both.

She’s more gunpowder than girl—and the fate of the desert lies in her hands.

Mortals rule the desert nation of Miraji, but mystical beasts still roam the wild and barren wastes, and rumor has it that somewhere, djinni still practice their magic. But there’s nothing mystical or magical about Dustwalk, the dead-end town that Amani can’t wait to escape from.
Destined to wind up “wed or dead,” Amani’s counting on her sharpshooting skills to get her out of Dustwalk. When she meets Jin, a mysterious foreigner in a shooting contest, she figures he’s the perfect escape route. But in all her years spent dreaming of leaving home, she never imagined she’d gallop away on a mythical horse, fleeing the murderous Sultan’s army, with a fugitive who’s wanted for treason.

(Goodreads)

This book really didn’t hang about with getting into the plot, and I was so into the book within minutes. The first few scenes were so exciting and really grabbed me. I feel like the plot was all over the place, a little muddled, but then it all came together??? It slowed down at times, and for the first three quarters of the book it had this up and down pace which made me constantly question when trouble was going to happen next.

I’d say that the first half of the book was my favourite, the end seeming a little rushed in places. Throughout the book there was amazing detail and you could really imagine these places, but sometimes towards the end, because of the fast pace, some of the detail that I would have liked to see was a bit lacking. However, the ending was a really great way to end it and I’d been questioning what was really happening in this book and the end just tied it up really well and brought things together in a really smart way.

I feel that the book was very plot-driven. I may be wrong in saying this, but it’s just my interpretation. Yes, we got a lot of input from Amani’s PoV, but not overly which was actually really nice as her opinions weren’t clouding what was going on.     

I really like the characters, I wouldn’t say that I LOVEEDDDD them because I feel like there wasn’t enough for me to really love the characters just yet. However, saying that there was IMMENSE character development for both Amani and Jin.

In the beginning I couldn’t help but not trust Jin. It felt as though he was hiding things and seemed very mysterious which lead to him seems untrustworthy. By the end I still had mix feeling about Jin, as I didn’t agree with some of his actions, but then again, they were necessary, but he could have just gone about them in a different way??? (WWWHICH is basically what Amani said.)

There are two major plot twists concerning the characters towards the end, which keeps it really interesting, but also causes the plot to go a bit all over the place. I have both positive and negative (slightly) feeling about these plot twists, but thinking on it, with out these factors coming into place there wouldn’t have been such a good ending.

There is actually a lot on sexism in this book, which really adds to the world and makes it so real. And I especially liked how Amani had to combat the sexism throughout. The book is so vivid in the world its set in, and the way that Alwyn Hamilton incorporated so much myth and religion and all these other aspects made the world building probably the strongest factor of the book.

Will I be continuing with the nest book? YES! 

Do I have an attachment to the characters that is probs going to get out of control during the nest book? DEFINITELY. 

I CAN’T WAIT to read Traitor to the Throne and see what happens next.

Have you read this? Let me know!! : )

Lu